Probiotics-ferromagnets
Scientists have grown probiotic bacteria with magnetic properties
Probiotic species Lactobacillus fermentum and Bifidobacteria breve were modified in such a way that nanoparticles from oxymagnetite were collected on their outer surface. Each cell thus obtained the properties of a ferromagnet, which can be used at room temperature in MRI diagnostics, as well as in the treatment of cancer of the digestive organs.
Drawing from the University of Granada press release:
Artificial magnetic bacteria “turn” food into natural drugs – VM.
The idea came from nature. Many bacteria have special organelles – magnetosomes, which contain ferromagnetic crystals, and act as a compass, helping the bacteria navigate in space. Such bacteria have a pronounced magnetotaxis. Scientists cannot yet establish the role and significance of this function in the natural environment, but the perfection of nanocrystals produced in magnetosomes made many think about the industrial production of these materials. Unfortunately, such attempts were not particularly successful.
Jose Manuel Dominguez-Vera and colleagues were able to achieve the assembly of magnetic nanocrystals on the surface of cells that are easily cultured. The technology is patented and will be tested in several clinical applications. A very promising therapeutic direction is the removal of tumors using magnetic hyperthermia. Living magnets will be directed to the tumor, attached to it, and under the influence of electromagnetic radiation in the range of 100-800 kHz (not absorbed by the tissues of the body), they will heat up to a high temperature.
Article by Miguel Martin et al. Artificial Magnetic Bacteria: Living Magnets at Room Temperature is published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru16.005.2014